Alliance for Climate Education, Inc.

The Alliance for Climate Education, Inc. (ACE) is a 501(c)(3) organization that provides free multimedia climate change presentations to public and private schools. The group encourages students to engage in activities to address climate change, like starting recycling programs, putting solar panels on the roof and forming clubs. The group also offers scholarships to assist students with paying for college, grants for school projects, and "action grants" to "pump up starter teams."

ACE says that all of the climate science that they teach comes from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report - "one of the most heavily researched science reports in history."

Their stated mission is "to educate high school students on the science behind climate change and inspire them to take action to curb the causes of global warming."

Reach/Social Media participation
The organization has a Facebook page, a Twitter account, a YouTube account, and posts photos on Flickr. The ACE Web site has a counter showing how many schools and students it has reached. As of July 9, 2010, it claimed it had reached 890 schools and 423,114 students. As of July 9, 2010, ACE's Facebook page boasted 12,190 fans

Funding
Funders include as of October 2010:
 * Google
 * The Salesforce.com Foundation
 * 2 Mile Challenge, created by Clif Bar
 * Flip Video, owned by Cisco Systems
 * Facebook
 * Chicago Public Schools

Previously the Alliance for Climate Education, Inc.'s Web site did not provide any information about the group's funding. In 2009, ACE CEO Michael A. Haas claimed he was the sole funder of ACE.

Despite ties of its personnel to BP, ACE denies any type of connection, financial or otherwise, to BP.

Changes noted in ACE's Web site
On July 22, 2010, PRWatch.org published a blog exposing ACE board members' ties to BP. By July 25, ACE had made several changes to its Web site further obscuring the link. For example, the blog contained a passage stating, "One is a statement applauding BP and other companies on climate change, with no mention of the fact that the fiduciary leaders of ACE are so closely tied to BP." That sentence contains a link to the following page on the ACE website, which contained a list of companies including BP: http://www.acespace.org/get-inspired/what-leaders-are-saying

By July 25, 2010, the sentence on ACE's Ace site was changed to read:

"Many companies have taken the lead on curbing climate change. Just a few leaders include Hewlett-Packard, General Electric, PG&E, Virgin, Patagonia and Apple, but the list goes on and on. ACE applauds all companies and shareholders who work to reduce the impact of climate change."

"BP" was mysteriously deleted from the list in the prior 48 hours.

The PRWatch report also stated, "The price [BP paid to purchase Orion Energy, LLC] has not been publicly disclosed, but what is known is that BP acquired two companies in 2006, Orion Energy, LLC, and Greenlight Energy, Inc., paying a combined total of $688 million (pdf) for both."

The following link that the sentence pointed to for verification of the price paid has been deleted on the BP.com corporate site: http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/SI/STAGING/local_assets/downloads_pdfs/ara_2006_performace_review.pdf

Partners

 * Live Earth, founded by producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore
 * ITVS
 * Reverb, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2004 by environmentalist Lauren Sullivan and her husband Adam Gardner
 * ClimateCounts.org
 * Rock the Vote
 * Earth Day Network
 * Sierra Student Coalition, the youth-led chapter of the Sierra Club
 * Rough Guides, The Rough Guide to Climate Change
 * Classroom Earth, started by The National Environmental Education Foundation, in partnership with The Weather Channel
 * National Environmental Education Week, (EE Week), the nation's largest environmental education event held each year the week before Earth Day
 * Go Green Foundation, partners are AT&T, Environmental Defense Fund, Nokia eg.
 * USA Science & Engineering Festival
 * Brighter Planet
 * Green For All
 * AYUSA Global Youth Exchange, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and provides exchange opportunities to students from around the world
 * Saatchi & Saatchi S
 * Free Range Studios

Personnel

 * Michael A. Haas, founder
 * James J. Eisen, Secretary (from 2008 form 990) -- Eisen is Vice President of Policy and Regulatory Affairs for BP Alternative Energy.
 * Robert Haas, Director (from 2008 form 990) (father of Michael Haas)
 * Pic Walker, Executive Director
 * Matt Stewart, Head of Marketing

Board:
 * Michael Haas, Chairman. Founder of Orion Energy Group LLC, a wind and solar energy company
 * Jim Essen, Vice President and General Counsel for Orion Energy Group LLC
 * Pic Walker, Executive Director
 * Jayni Chase, founder of the Center for Environmental Education

Science Advisory Board which provides guidance and reviews the science used in teaching:
 * Kevin R. Arrigo, Professor, Stanford University Environmental Earth System Science program; Director of the Graduate Program in Earth, Energy, and Environmental Sciences; IPCC Author.
 * Robert B. Dunbar, Professor, Stanford University Environmental Earth System Science; Director, Stanford University Earth Systems Program
 * Reto Knutti, Professor, Climate Physics at the Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science at ETH Zurich; IPCC Author
 * Amy Luers, Senior Environmental Program Manager, Google.org
 * Terry L. Root, Professor, Stanford University Department of Biology; Senior Fellow, Woods Institute for the Environment; IPCC Author

Contact
Alliance for Climate Education, Inc. 360 22nd St. Suite 730 Oakland, CA 94612 Phone: 510-251-5990 Fax: 510-419-0383 Email: info AT climateeducation.org Web: http://www.acespace.org

Sourcewatch resources

 * Alliance for Climate Education, Inc.'s 2008 990 form (pdf)

External articles

 * Dan Vergano, "Survey: Public knowledge on climate lacking", USA Today, October 15, 2010.

External resources

 * Intro video presented to students, Alliance for Climate Education, accessed October 2010.